Team Herald
PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Sanguem MLA, Subhash Phal Desai are singing in different tunes with respect to the vexed new IIT campus project.
State government is looking for an alternate location for setting up the proposed IIT project, after the Centre found Cotarli-Sanguem site inadequate to set up the permanent IIT Goa campus.
But Phal Dessai has been adamant on having the project at Cotarli-Sanguem at any cost. He has claimed that IIT project won’t go out of Sanguem taluka and that the government has three alternate plans to set up IIT here.
Speaking to media persons on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the government will identify another site for setting up permanent campus of IIT Goa.
“The IIT Goa campus will be set up in Goa for sure. We are identifying the suitable land for the facility. Once the land is identified, you (media) will be informed,” he said.
The Government of India has turned down the seven lakh square metres of land identified by the State government for the project, terming the area as inadequate. As per the Union Ministry of Education requirement, 12 lakh square metres land is to be identified to establish a campus for an IIT.
However, the State offered to make available seven lakh square metres of land for the project, of which only around three lakh square metres of land is available for use of the project as the other four lakh stands covered by a natural cover and a hillock.
In a recent communication to the Sanguem villagers, the Union Ministry for Education clarified that the land identified by the Goa government at Cotarli, Sanguem, is no longer under consideration to set up the IIT Goa permanent campus.
As per procedure, once the State government identifies a parcel of land, a team from the Centre visits for inspection, before approving or rejecting the site. However, this time, the Central team declined the site after going through the plan and found it inadequate. It also declined to undertake inspection of the proposed site.
